So from what I've read from the rules, it appears that even force sensitive characters get skill bonuses from the force even before they are tested.

Yet if that is the case, shouldn't anyone be able to find out whether they are force sensitive before they even get tested? All they have to do is compare their stats or abilities to what they should be were they non force sensitive.

The easiest example of this would be with speed. If you know someone with speed 2 is suppose to go 12 mph and you go 16, you know right then and there that your FS without even being tested. The same thing can be done with the other skills, even though they would be harder to test, there seem to be ways to test all of them.

Yet I don't see how these tests can possibly work, since someone else would have figured this out already. Yet there are characters as old as the combine who still don't know whether they are FS yet.

So the only conclusion I can come up is that I'm somehow misunderstanding how the force works in the game. Can anyone point out where I'm mistaken here?

1. I don't know if what it says on the Rules is actually what's programmed.

2. Can you select your travel speed, on foot? If not, then it would take a good amount of testing, and probably some collaboration with other players, to figure out if you were travelling at a rate above the stat you seemed to have. It might be easier to notice if you were to, say, hit level 6, become FS, and you realise you're going from one city square to the next faster than you used to. But then, how much does the average person walk around in a city, especially with OOF AE about? Additionally, I don't recall Speed being a useful stat prior to Darkness. So the people as old as the Combine had a couple of years where that wouldn't have helped. ;P

3. Are there any of the others you could actually check? Diplomacy, Leadership, Perception, and Stealth do nothing you can easily see the results of. Theft/deceit, Vigor, and Dodge aren't really used yet. Speed is the only one you could really look at.

4. Even if you figure it out, it doesn't do you much good because you still need to be tested in order to be activated as FS and do anything with it. It would basically just tell you "get tested NOW!"

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"May the Grace of Ara go with you, and His Vengeance be wrought upon your enemies."

Syn is correct, stat increases do not occur until after you become force aware. I've asked before.

This is because of exactly the reasons stated in the first post about it being blindingly obvious that you are FS without needing to be tested. However such bonuses should be active before being force aware which is partly why I suggested a new approach be taken where instead of pure skill bonuses, force sensitive character gain bonuses directly to the equations. These would be far less obvious, especially with the random element that most of the equations have. They also make a lot more sense and work better in balance with stats. Last I heard Hal had adopted this approach in the new rules however that could be wishful thinking or may not have been deemed appropriate from a programming perspective.

It was accepted, Ral, but I haven't heard comments from the Force programmer on it. Others seemed to think it would work fine.

The only programming issue I can consider would be remembering to include it in equations - both going back to add it to existing ones, and adding it to new ones - which might be quite a task for somebody once the new stuff is programmed. However, given my limited programming knowledge, it seems like it should be possible to just write a few functions (minimum 1, maximum 4) and then do an include in the actual equation functions.

I am a noob here but Ralgarrch's idea is excellent. The worst thing now is the fact that when u have one skill at level 4-5 and being force sensitive upgare it by 2 u do not really get the bonus. If someone is excellent natural born trader ability to read in other mind should make him even better.